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5 Reasons Drinking Enough Water Will Help Truckers Lose Weight and Stay Healthy

5 Reasons Drinking Enough Water Will Help Truckers Lose Weight and Stay Healthy

June 28, 2018

by Kyle Mitchell

You’ve probably heard that drinking more water will help you lose or maintain your weight and improve your health.

Is this true or is this a myth?

It’s true. Drinking an adequate amount of water will help you lose or maintain your weight because water helps:

Boost your metabolism

Cleanse your body of waste

Act as an appetite suppressant

Help your body stop retaining water.

Most of the time, we are not aware of how much water we are drinking – or not drinking. Most people get about half of what they really need. Our bodies need 8 to 10 eight-ounce glasses of water every day to keep ourselves hydrated and encourage weight reduction or maintenance.

Here are 5 ways truckers can make sure they are getting enough water to stay hydrated, especially in warmer weather.

1. Replace calorie-filled drinks with water

This is a biggie, folks! Seriously, you need to ditch the sodas and energy drinks laden with sugar and replace them with water to improve your health and lose weight. A glass of water with lemon in it is a better option because the pectin in lemon will help reduce food cravings. Not sure if giving up sodas and other sugary drinks will really help with weight loss? Give up those unhealthy drinks for a few weeks and see the difference for yourself!

2. Drink water before you eat

Water is an appetite suppressant. Drinking a glass of water before you eat can help you feel fuller, helping you keep your portion intact lower. According the WebMD, drinking water before even one meal per day will result in an average calorie reduction of 75 calories per meal. While 75 calories might not seem like very much, drinking water before just one meal per day for a year would result in 27,000 fewer calories. Now imagine what would happen if you drank a glass of water before every meal!

3. Drink ice-cold water

Drinking ice-cold water will boost your metabolism because you body has to warm the water up to your body temperature. The extra work your body has to do will burn more calories. Plus, ice-cold water is more refreshing, especially in hot weather.

4. Helps you exercise longer

Drinking water helps you work out longer and harder because an adequate amount of water in your body helps prevent muscle cramps and keeps your joints lubricated. When you feel better, you are more likely to want to work out and is a motivator for longer, more difficult workout sessions.

5. Drinking water helps burn calories, even when you’re resting

Drinking water helps increase the amount of calories your body burns, even during rest. This is called resting energy expenditure.

Within 10 minutes of downing a glass of water, the resting energy expenditure of adults has been shown to increase by 24-30 percent. What’s more, the benefits of drinking a full glass of water will last 60 minutes.

Research has found that increasing your water intake by 1 liter per day can result in an extra 4.4 lbs. of weight loss without doing anything else. Impressive!

Everyone has their own hydration needs, depending on several personal factors. Want to know how much water you should be drinking per day? Link to a Water Intake Calculator online to find out. Another great app you can use on your mobile phone is Water Drink Reminder. You can set notification reminders and track your water intake with this free app.

Here at AAOO we want to make sure all truckers stay hydrated. The signs of hydration include:

Thirst

Dry mouth

Headaches

Feeling dizzy

Feeling lethargic.

Please make sure you drink enough water and eat plenty of hydrating foods like watermelon, cucumbers and celery.

A weight-loss or wellness program should include 64 ounces – or more – of water. So grab a BPA-free water bottle, keep refilling it, and sip your way to health!

When it comes to becoming a healthier truck driver and owner-operator, turn to AAOO as source of reliable information and support. Drinking enough water is one strategy for overall health, click here to learn more about what we have to offer.